Breathe Again
by l'Ange de Morte
Summary: Part of the LJ NejiTen fest. Part of the 100 Themes challenge. During a training session between Neji and Ten Ten, something goes horribly wrong...


Breathe Again

A/N: Part of the Neji/Ten Ten fest at http / community . livejournal . com / nejiten / (remove the spaces, you know how it works.) Part of the 100 Themes challenge. I was drafted to help a friend write it. If there's something in here that doesn't follow Naruto cannon, blame her, because I don't really follow the series. I just write really good angst. This may be double-posted; if this story is also posted under the author name AnimeLuvers, that is the communal name for the three people working on the 100 themes. It isn't stolen.

Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine, nor do I want the series. It belongs to…um…whoever the owner is.

Uses the themes: #10: Breate again; #24: No time; #43: Dying; #58 Kick in the Head; #63 Do not disturb; #91: Drowning.

It happened suddenly, during an average training session. Rock Lee was watching, shouting advice and enthusiasm while Ten Ten and Neji sparred. They were working on water, to practice their chakra control and to help Ten Ten become used to fighting in an area she hated. Neji was the one sparring with her, in an attempt to develop the Gentle Fist into something to be used with something _besides_ a hand. It was rather one-sided in Ten Ten's favour, since Neji was rarely landing a blow that affected her.

After Neji had landed seven or eight kicks to various places on Ten Ten's body with little effect, other than getting well within range of Ten Ten's many weapons, he became…irritated. He stepped back, lightly taunting Ten Ten while his thoughts furiously raced. _I've kicked her in several places that would normally block her chakra control, but nothing's happening! Perhaps, a strong enough blow to the head with enough chakra put behind it, will block her chakra system._

Meanwhile, Ten Ten, becoming very irritated with Neji's taunting, summoned a hammer—a very _large_ hammer—and went after Neji with it. He jumped up into the air just after she swung, with the result of her spinning around with the force and weight of the hammer, and him landing a much harder kick to her head than he had expected. The next few seconds both raced by and crept.

Ten Ten was kicked so hard in the head that she was stunned for a brief moment—a moment too long. She kept her grip on her hammer—after all, what kind of warrior lets go of their weapon after an attack?—and sank through the water, losing all control of her chakra. She had a couple seconds to think stupidly, _Oh, what a pretty fishy!_, and then it hit her. She was underwater, and quickly sinking.

Neji, meanwhile, was laughing with delight at how well his attack had worked, and was happily bouncing on the surface, waiting for her to come up.

And waiting.

Ten, fifteen seconds pass…then he realizes: she's not coming back up. She's _drowning_. Another few seconds pass, while he panics. Then he shouts to Lee to run for a medic nin, and drops his chakra. Neji drops into the water and begins diving, searching for Ten Ten.

Ten Ten had panicked when she had realized she was sinking. The heavy hammer had pulled her quickly down—too quickly. She was already at least a hundred feet from the surface, and she was out of air. She let go of the hammer, but it was too late. She didn't know how to swim, and the way she was thrashing about did nothing to help her get to the surface. Then she did the worst thing that she could do.

She tried to breathe.

Once she inhaled water, she realized what she had done, and she screamed. Underwater, sound carries well—distorted, but well. Neji heard her, and finally saw her. He was out of air by this time—a good minute had passed from when he had first kicked her—and so he shot to the surface quickly, gulped in more air as fast as he could and dived again.

By the time he reached her, she had gone limp. He pulled her to the surface of the lake, but she wasn't breathing. He looked around frantically, but the lake they were training at was removed from town—Lee wasn't back with help yet. There was no time to wait. He desperately begin CPR, trying frantically to get Ten Ten to begin breathing again, begging her, "Please, breathe! Just breathe again, please!" in between his breathing for her.

Finally, just as he started to really become desperate, Lee arrived with a medic nin. They took one look at Ten Ten and immediately shoved Neji aside, picked her up, and began running to the hospital, Neji and Lee close behind.

However, once he got Ten Ten to the hospital, the door was slammed in their faces. "We have to have quiet to heal her. Don't disturb us. Your friend's life could depend on us having peace to concentrate!" Neji and Lee, rebuffed, paced outside the hospital, worrying. Neji was convinced that he had killed her, that it would be his fault if she…died.

About ten minutes later, Guy Sensei arrived to the hospital. Neji and Lee ran up to him and began plying him with questions, but he quietly shook his head and slipped into the hospital to see how Ten Ten was. He shortly came out the door with a grim look on his face. "It doesn't look good," he told them shortly. "We'll know more tomorrow. They won't let anyone see her until then," and he forced them both to leave the hospital and return home.

Early the next day, almost before the sun had risen, Neji was back at the hospital. He crept into Ten Ten's room, hiding from the staff, and stared at the bed. Bile rose in his throat at the sight.

Ten Ten was dead.

Oh, her chest moved like she was breathing, but he could tell. There was nothing alive in her anymore. She had absolutely no chakra flow, anywhere in her body. It was profoundly unnatural for the body to even be capable of breathing without chakra. After all, _every_ living thing possesses at least a tiny amount of chakra, regardless of their ability to use it. The body on the bed wasn't Ten Ten, anymore.

He gently kissed its forehead, and left.

He had killed her.

It was all his fault.

THE END


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